1 hour ago, ReddFoxx said:

Patty Duke was an Academy Award and Emmy Award winner, but success with another series after "The Patty Duke Show" never materialized. Her first venture "Hail To The Chief" in 1985 lasted only 7 episodes. After that she did "Karen's Song" on the then brand new FOX Network, but it went nowhere. Her last try at a series was a drama called "Amazing Grace" which was only 5 episodes.

Don't forget this short-lived series, co-starring Richard Crenna, Helen Hunt, Anthony Edwards and a very familiar-looking set (watch closely!):

Re: Lucy as a Daytime soap producer. She could have been loosely based on Gloria Monty. Real soap actors could have guest starred. I can picture Lucy taking a drag off a cigarette and telling a guesting Susan Lucci " Just say the lines as written" then the two later come to blows with Lucci smashing a cake in Lucy's face and Lucy rubs Lucci's nose in a plate of spaghetti during the filming of a dinner scene that goes awry. The possibilities would be endless.

1 hour ago, Khan said:

I think so, too. I could see a series where Lucy, as a one-time chorus girl and B-movie actress (from Jamestown, NY, Lucy's actual hometown) turned housewife and mother, has a son who followed in his late father's footsteps and joined the LAPD.

Love this.

The show biz connection could come into play from time to time.

Lucy could get a bit part in a movie filming locally and is reacquainted with an actor/actress from that time. They could use footage from one of her old RKO b movies.

There would be a lot of story possibilities. And it wouldn't always have to be a murder plot.

Lucy and friends go on a cruise and get entangled in murder.

Goes undercover at a retirement community.

Goes to a nostalgia movie convention.

I'm thinking of movies I've seen that you could steal plots from

Manhattan Murder Mystery . Lucy and her friends try to get to the bottom of the death of a neighbour

Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? Lucy goes undercover as a companion to a woman who's previous companions have managed to meet untimely deaths.

Witness to Murder-Lucy witnesses a murder across the street but no trace can be found.

2 minutes ago, Paul Raven said:

Love this.

The show biz connection could come into play from time to time.

Lucy could get a bit part in a movie filming locally and is reacquainted with an actor/actress from that time. They could use footage from one of her old RKO b movies.

There would be a lot of story possibilities. And it wouldn't always have to be a murder plot.

Lucy and friends go on a cruise and get entangled in murder.

Goes undercover at a retirement community.

Goes to a nostalgia movie convention.

I'm thinking of movies I've seen that you could steal plots from

Manhattan Murder Mystery . Lucy and her friends try to get to the bottom of the death of a neighbour

Whatever Happened to Aunt Alice? Lucy goes undercover as a companion to a woman who's previous companions have managed to meet untimely deaths.

Witness to Murder-Lucy witnesses a murder across the street but no trace can be found.

There could even have been an episode that paid homage to "The Dark Corner," often considered her finest dramatic film, complete with a guest appearance by still-alive Mark Stevens.

57 minutes ago, Khan said:

Don't forget this short-lived series, co-starring Richard Crenna, Helen Hunt, Anthony Edwards and a very familiar-looking set (watch closely!):

I think Crystal Gayle's guest stint on AW was shorter than that theme song.

6 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think Crystal Gayle's guest stint on AW was shorter than that theme song.

🤣 That theme was really long and unnecessary. Poor Patty Duke always looked middle aged. The beard suits Richard Crenna. Seeing Tony Thomas as one of the executive producers made me think why didn't his sister Marlo ever do another regular series after That Girl? I know she made guest appearances on Friends etc...and many TV movies.

I remember Marlo doing an interview in recent years where a lot of people have approached her about doing a revival off TG where the granddaughter was the focus with Marlo as Grandmother Anne would be around to offer advice etc...Marlo said "Ick! that sounds horrible". She said since she owns the rights to her series she can veto anything surrounding it. She said Ann Marie was a "That Girl" of her era (1960's/early 70's) and she should remain there.

4 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

I remember Marlo doing an interview in recent years where a lot of people have approached her about doing a revival off TG where the granddaughter was the focus with Marlo as Grandmother Anne would be around to offer advice etc...Marlo said "Ick! that sounds horrible".

I'm with Marlo: that DOES sound horrible, lol.

11 hours ago, DRW50 said:

I think Crystal Gayle's guest stint on AW was shorter than that theme song.

LOL!!

But seriously. That has to be one of the WORST theme songs I've ever heard for a sitcom. Entirely too slow and wistful sounding. A rare dud from the Witt/Thomas/Harris factory. (Your show is called "It Takes Two," for God's sake, why not get, say, Andrew Gold and Melissa Manchester to do a new arrangement of that classic Motown song of the same name?)

4 hours ago, SoapDope78 said:

Poor Patty Duke always looked middle aged.

I tend to blame her hair. Somewhere around 1980, she started wearing her hair like some real estate broker from the Midwest.

A poor theme song and opening credits can break a new sitcom, IMO. The vibe is set for the viewer from the first chord of the theme song. Of course, poor writing and concept doesn't help much either.

On 11/25/2025 at 12:04 AM, Paul Raven said:

I guess the contract issues Bain and Landau had on MI might have caused them to be seen as troublesome?

Maybe neither of them wanted to be tied down to a network series after all that went down?

From interviews I've seen, she would have happily continued on MI; she was collateral damage, so to speak, of Landau's contract dispute.

I think with Space:1999, what started out with hope ended up with frustration and dissatisfaction from both actors. She was nicknamed "Barbara Pain" by some. She also apparently felt threatened by Catherine Schell (Maya) who had to dye her blonde hair red and was, per BB's stipulation, to never appear onscreen just looking like herself.

On 11/29/2025 at 6:38 PM, titan1978 said:

I don’t think anyone has mentioned Sharon Gless yet, she had a long run on TV from ingenue to grandmother.

Switch (which I have never seen) 1975-1978

Cagney & Lacey the show plus the telefilms 82-88, 94-96

The Trials of Rosie O’Neill was short lived, 90-92, but I remember it being pretty good.

Queer As Folk 2000-2005 then Burn Notice 2007-2013. And it seems like plenty of guest roles from the 90’s on.

I loved Switch!

Speaking of...you've got Eddie Albert and Robert Wagner. Eddie didn't really have a hit after Green Acres, and RJ's BIG hit was Hart to Hart, after middling attempts like It Takes a Thief and Switch.

@Khan @kalbir I still cling to my idea that Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon would’ve been better doing a short arc as villains (Angela’s goofy but wicked sister in law Lucinda Channing) under Jeff Feilich’s era ons Falcon Crest in 1986 than doing Life with Lucy 🤣🤣🤣

Also @Khan to follow up on the Orleans show, like New York News I was probably the only person in America or one of the very, very few people to watch at least 2 or 3 episodes. It wasn’t bad, typical judicial drama mixed with some family drama. There was an ongoing plot about Hagman’s character’s daughter being long since kidnapped and missing (it was very Samantha Mulder on X-Files minus aliens). CBS probably didn’t give it a chance, and the half primetime soap/half episodic format the show seemed to be angling for would work a lot better for shows like Providence and Judging Amy a couple years later.

8 minutes ago, soapfan770 said:

@Khan @kalbir I still cling to my idea that Lucille Ball and Gale Gordon would’ve been better doing a short arc as villains (Angela’s goofy but wicked sister in law Lucinda Channing) under Jeff Feilich’s era ons Falcon Crest in 1986 than doing Life with Lucy 🤣🤣🤣

Heck, Lucille Ball could have replaced Dame Judith Anderson as Minx Lockridge on SB and it would've been better than watching her on that godawful show.

(As a matter of fact, we should start a new thread: Things We Would Have Rather Seen Lucy Do Besides 'Life with Lucy').

Edited 38 minutes ago38 min by Khan

Sharon Gless also recurred in the last two or three seasons of "Marcus Welby, MD," another show that brings up some folks that fit the thread. Robert Young hit it big with "Father Knows Best" (1949-1954 on radio and 1954-1960 on television), followed it up with the "Peyton Place"-adjacent one-season wonder "Window on Main Street" in the 1961-1962 season, basically took most of the 60s off, and then hit it even bigger with Welby at the very end of the decade and into the 70s.

Since Welby ended in 1976, James Brolin has had three hit series: "Hotel," "Pensacola: Wings of Gold," and "Life in Pieces." He's only ever starred in one TV flop, 1995's "Extreme," which might've done better had it been made for Saturday afternoon syndication.

Elena Verdugo played the doctors' secretary, and her only other regular TV role was as the star of "Meet Millie," which was a hit on both radio and TV for five years but is almost completely forgotten today. Pamela Hensley joined the cast in the final season as Dr. Kiley's love interest. She then did "Kingston: Confidential," which was Raymond Burr's short-lived follow-up to "Ironside," before having a three-season hit with "Matt Houston." When it ended in 1985, she retired from acting.